Fishing Report: Developer sets high bar for ocean wind farms

By Dave MontiSpecial to the Journal

Saturday

Dec 23, 2017 at 3:45 PM

The science-based conclusions came one after another last week.

The Block Island Wind Farm has had no remarkable adverse effects on the environment, fish, mammals, birds and people. Over 50 scientists presented their research findings at the Southern New England Offshore Wind Energy Science Forum held at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.

I served on a social impacts panel and last month served as a panelist at the ‘Offshore Renewable Energy Development and Fisheries’ workshop at UMass Dartmouth. The URI Science Form was sponsored by Deepwater Wind, who developed the Block Island Wind Farm (the first ocean wind farm in the nation) and the UMass workshop was organized by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on behalf of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to garner input on what types of fisheries research might be needed to plan future wind farm projects.

As a fisherman, I try to keep up with the science of fish and fishing. However, much of the wind farm science is new and it is developing quickly. Three firms have secured leases to build wind farms in federal waters between Block Island and south off Nantucket; they are Deepwater Wind LLC, Bay State Wind LLC and Offshore MW LLC.

Deepwater Wind has the South Fork Wind Farm in development on Cox Ledge (15 turbines to supply Long Island) and this week proposed a utility-scale renewable energy project with the State of Massachusetts and partners National Grid and FirstLight Power Resources. Ocean wind farms off Rhode Island and Massachusetts are starting to take off.

Ocean wind farms in Europe have been around for many years; however, most were developed and built with little or no research on how they might impact the fish and environment. Any detrimental effects were discovered and mitigated after they were built. But thanks to Deepwater Wind (DWW) and their Block Island project we have the depth of research to develop a robust protocol for future wind farm development in this nation. DWW facilitated (and in many cases paid for) an army of scientists, engineers, consultants, and universities to study the BIW before, during and after construction.

Insights from the UMass workshop and URI science forum are too numerous to mention, but here are some of the highlights.

Jeffrey Grybowski, CEO of Deepwater Wind said at the URI Science Forum last week, “Starting with a small wind farm (five turbines) at Block Island allowed us to address project challenges effectively. Because small problems on a big project can sink you, but small problems on a small project can likely be solved… we not only produced a source of energy but we helped Block Island solve its energy problem, the wind farm addressed a real world problem.”

Aileen Kenney, vice president of permitting and environmental affairs for DWW said, “We are closely looking at the cumulative impact and analysis of multiple turbines. After the 15 turbine South Fork Wind Farm we may build a 20 turbine and then possibly a 30 turbine farm adding to the research that we have already done along the way.”

Chris Brown, a commercial fisherman who is president of the Commercial Fisheries Center said, “Fishermen were initially terrorized as to what was going to be built, but last week I made a living towing all around the wind farm.”

Drew Carey, principal scientist/managing partner of Inspire Environmental, Middletown was hired by DWW to do a trawl survey, a lobster survey and other studies before, during and after construction of the windfarm. Carey said, “No real dramatic changes in the fish community occurred in four years of study… and the lobster study showed consistent patterns too…”

John King, professor at the URI Graduate School of Oceanography said, “We measured electrical magnetic fields (EMF) associated with the sea2shore cable. We found EMF for this AC cable to be significantly lower than predicted models, it seems the impacts of AC cables are less pronounced than DC cables. We also found that if cables do not meet project depth that EMF goes up. And, we found that skates were actually attracted to the EMF, but lobsters seem to detract from EMF and try to stay away from the cable.”

It is important to note that not everyone is pleased with future wind farm development siting. Some in the commercial industry are concerned about proposed wind farm sites interfering with grounds they fish.

At the UMass Dartmouth workshop Meghan Lapp of Seafreeze Ltd, North Kingstown, said, “Some of our larger vessels have a trawl tow that extends as much as a half mile. Our captains are already trying to avoid areas that can snag nets on wrecks, natural structure and if they have to negotiate wind farm pylons and bases and submarine cable concrete caps they won’t be able to fish without losing gear. A large net can cost as much as $50,000 to replace.” Lapp sited a proposed New York wind farm site that is in the middle of fertile squid fishing grounds where the company fishes.

During the URI Forum wrap up session, Jennifer McCann, moderator from the URI Coastal Resources Center/Rhode Island Sea Grant, said that she and colleagues will be doing a follow up report on the workshop. Aileen Kenney of DWW said, “We were happy to hold the forum as we wanted all to understand just how much research and work DWW and others are doing. And we all had a chance to network with each other. One or our next steps is to determine the best way to move forward to synthesis all the research that has been done for our use and the use of others.”

Where’s the bite

Cod fishing continues to improve as the water cools. Boats that were able to get out last week did well. Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, “Both jigs and bait did the trick. Most anglers left with three to five market size cod. The sea bass are still around but every day is different. Sea bass season is open until Dec. 31. Fishing should only improve as we get more dialed in.”

Capt. Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing for over 40 years. He holds a captain’s master license and a charter fishing license. He is a RISAA board member, a member of the RI Party & Charter Boat Association and a member of the RI Marine Fisheries Council. . Contact or forward fishing news and photos to Capt. Dave at dmontifish@verizon.net or visit his website at www.noflukefishing.com.

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